1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to plastic liner securing devices, in particular, to such devices which are used for securing flexible plastic liners within waste or storage containers.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the past, flexible plastic liners have been used in waste and storage containers for easy and sanitary disposal of waste and the storage of commodities. Inventors have created several types of devices to secure plastic liners in said containers. Preventing the plastic liner from slipping into the container has been accomplished by many methods, namely, tying a knot in the excess liner material gathered at the top of the liner, using larger liners so more liner would extend down the outside of the container, using a slotted knob on the side of the container through which the twisted excess liner was threaded, using wire brackets or hold down clamps, using a rachet device to stretch the liner around the container. Most if not all of these methods have proved to be ineffective or too expensive for widespread application. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,495 to Kubota (1998) uses a complicated, u-shaped clip to hold a portion of a bag in place but allows the bag to slip into the container when being filled with heavy material and more than one is required to prevent such slippage, thereby costing more per can and requiring more labor to change bags, interferes with proper fit of container lid, and may fall off or dislocate on certain style containers when container liner is emptied; U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,187 to Marisco (1995) uses a grooved section near the top of the container which holds the liner by means of a retainer, which requires specialized manufacturing of said container and doesn't relate to all containers regardless of size or shape; U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,304 to Montreuil (1986) uses a thin piece of material with a perforated opening through which the liner is passed and thus said liner is secured around the top of the container, which presents a difficult problem of insertion of liner into the cut slot if material is rigid and allows the liner to slip backwards out of the slot if material is flexible; on close fitting liners there is not enough material to pull through the slot to secure the liner to the container, so all containers cannot be serviced with this device; U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,416 to Anderson (1997) employs a front and rear plate device to hold the liner in place, which is clumsy to operate and presents a problem of threading the bag through the opening especially on close-fitting bags where there is not enough slack liner material to use the device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,774 to Cote (1977) uses an ear and a notch manufactured into the container through which the twisted liner top is inserted; this application requires all containers to be manufactured with said ear and notch to use this system therefore this application does not work on containers that are not so manufactured. My own U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,374 (1990) uses a ratchet-type device to stretch a liner around rim of a container which device is affixed to said container; all embodiments use a complicated set of gears and paul in a housing which is required to keep the liner securely in place; although this device works well, it is very expensive to manufacture, requires attachment means, protrudes from the container requiring more space to store container and the end costs to the consumer are excessive, therefore limiting its application.
All plastic liner securing devices heretofore known suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages:
(a) Device requires attachment to container before use PA1 (b) Device allows slippage of liner into container PA1 (c) Device is difficult or complicated to operate PA1 (d) Devive is expensive to manufacture PA1 (e) Device is specific to one container only PA1 (f) Device is limited by liner size PA1 (g) Device hinders application of lid PA1 (h) Device must be different size for different-sized containers PA1 (i) Device protrudes from container, requiring additional storage space PA1 (l) Device can be displaced when liner is emptied PA1 (a) to provide a device that does not require attachment to container for use; PA1 (b) to provide a device which stretches the liner top to such a degree that the liner will remain suspended within the container under extreme load conditions; PA1 (c) to provide a device which is extremely easy to operate; PA1 (d) to provide a device which can be manufactured with automated equipment which will allow the cost to be insignificant to the problem; PA1 (e) to provide a device which may be used on any waste container or storage container without regard to size or shape that now uses flexible plastic liners; PA1 (f) to provide a device which is well below lid attachment area and will allow attachment of all lids to their containers; PA1 (g) to provide a device which may be used for oversized liners or tightly fitting liners with equal success; PA1 (h) to provide a device which fits flat against the side of the container, thereby requiring no additional storage space; PA1 (i) to provide a device that can remain on the container and keep the liner in place when being emptied, which allows for reuse of liner.